Car lock and seal



PATEN'I'ED FB'B.'23,'190&. J. scorn. GAR LOGKI'AND SEAL. APPLIGATION FILED JAN. 9. 1903.

N0 MODEL UNITED STATES rammed February 23, 1904.

PATENT OFFICE.

H. BURGHINAL, OF. TOLEDO, OHIO.

OAR LOOKAND SEAL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 753,006, dated February 23, 1904. Application filed January 9, 1903, Serial No. 138,356. .(No model.)

To ctZZ whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, JosIAH SCOTT, of Toledo, county of Lucas, and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Car Locks and Seals; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, which will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the figures'of reference marked thereon, which form part of this specification.

My invention has reference to a lock and seal for freight-cars, and has for its object to provide an efficient device of this character which shall be simple and inexpensive in con- I struction and which is not dependent for its operation upon the action of working parts liable to get out of order by exposure to the weather.

A further object consists in arranging the parts so that it shall be impossible to pick or open the lock without destroying the sealingplate, damage to the plate indicating that the lock has been tampered with.

With a view to carrying out these objects my invention is constructed and the same comprises the novel arrangement hereinafter shown, described, and claimed.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is an elevation of the lock, showing the sealing-plate locked in position; Fig. '2 is an elevation in part section showing the method of operation, the means employed to lock the sealing-plate in position being disclosed Fig. 3 is an elevation showing the inside face of the enlarged arm of the lock and showing the pocket therein to receive one end of the sealing-plate. Fig. ei is an edge view of the sealing-plate.

The general form of the lock is U-shaped to permit easy attachment to the cardoor fastener, usually in the form of an ordinary hasp. The arm 1 is slotted at 2 to receive the hooked end 3 of the sealing-plate 4.

5 is a transverse pin provided in the arm 1, firmly riveted or otherwise secured to prevent removal and adapted to be engaged by the end 3 of the sealing-plate.

per and lower edges.

The arm 6 of the lock is enlarged and is formed with a shallow depression 7, so that when the plate 8 is riveted in place, as shown in Figs. 1 and 3, a narrow pocket will be formed to receive the end 9 of the sealingplate, the pocket being open at the bottom and side to permit the introduction of the plate.

10 is a recess having a shoulder at 11, and the same is formed in the enlarged portion of the arm 6 and communicates with the pocket between said enlarged portion and the plate 8. As has been stated, the sealing-plate at one end is in the form of a hook to engage the pin 5, a slot 12 being cut into the body of the plate near the right-hand margin of the same and extending upwardly from the lower edge to a point approximately midway between the up- The upper edge of the plate is curved in the arc of a circle, as shown at 13, to permit the plate to be moved to the position shown in Fig. 1, the edge thereof being then in contact with the upper extremity of the slot 2, the transverse pin through the arm 1 of the lock engaging the upper end of the slot 12. By this construction the hooked end of the sealing-plate is firmly held in position, and in order to disengage the plate it is necessary to turn the plate about the pin 5 as an axis to the position where it may be unhooked. Stamped from the body of the sealing-plate and attached thereto along one side on a line parallelto the top edge is a tongue 14:, which is bent or deflected at an angle to the plane of that portion of the plate from which it is stamped. Since the sealing plate is con-' structed of resilient sheet metal, when the end thereof carrying the tongue H is introduced into the pocket provided to receive the same the tongue, owing to its resiliency, will enter the recess 10 and the free end of the tongue will be engaged by the shoulder 11, and consequently prevent the removal of the plate after insertion, In like manner the side margin of the tongue will be engaged by the side wall of the recess 10 to prevent its withdrawal laterally. To guard against picking the lock by inserting a thin blade or instrument underneath the tongue 1a to lift the same, there is provided upon the sealing-plate a shoulder or ofiset 15, extending crosswise of the plate and adapted when the plate is in locked position to fit close to the enlarged arm of the lock containing the pocket and recess 10. By this arrangement picking of the lock will be practically insured against. However, to further guard against unathorized removal of the sealing-plate and to compel the destruction of the plate upon removal, the tongue 14 may be divided, as indicated by the dotted line a, Fig. 2, to form two tongues adjoining each other and operating independently. Should one of these tongues be lifted by an instrument, the other would engage the shoulder 11 and prevent the removal of the sealing-plate. It is apparent that the tongue may be deflected from the upper instead of the lower face of the sealing-plate, in which case the recess 14 will be provided in the plate 8, or the sealing-plate may be provided with two separate and independent tongues extending on opposite sides of the plate, two recesses being provided to receive them, the one in the enlarged arm of the lock and the other in the plate 8.

The simple operation required to place the seal in position will be apparent from the drawings and the foregoing description.

When it is desired to remove the seal in order to detach the lock, the same is divided by cutting with any suitable instrument adapted for cutting sheet metal. Each part of the seal may then be removed from the lock, the part carrying the tongue being readily detached by turning the same slightly at an angle to the position which it formerly occupied and withdrawing the tongue through the open TidieI of the pocket in the enlarged arm of the In the application of the invention the sealing-plate may be stamped with suitable initial letters to indicate the railroad upon which the same is employed, and the station number may also be stamped thereon, the record of the same indicating the point where the seal has been broken or otherwise tampered with.

By eliminating all working parts in con- 'structing my invention the likelihood of getting out of order through exposure to the weather or through breakage from ordinary causes is insured against.

The novelty, utility, and many advantages of my invention over sealing devices at present known in the art will be apparent.

Having described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, 1s

1. In a car lock and seal, a lock proper of general U form having arms arranged in parallel relation, one of said arms being provided with means for securing one end of a sealingplate, the other of said arms being formed with a pocket and a shouldered recess communicating therewith, and a sealing-plate having a tongue near one end deflected from the plane of the body portion thereof and adapted to enter and engage said recess to lock the plate in position, as set forth.

2. In a car lock and seal, a lock proper of general U form, having arms arranged in parallel relation, one of said arms having a slotted end and a pin extending transversely of the same, the other arm being enlarged and formed with a pocket open at the bottom and side, and a shouldered recess communicating with said pocket, and a sealing-plate having a hookshaped end adapted to enter the slot in the first-mentioned arm and engage the transverse pin, the opposite end of said plate being provided with a tongue to enter and engage the recess in the enlarged arm to lock the plate in position, as set forth.

3. In a car lock and seal, a lock proper of general U form, having arms arranged in parallel relation, one of said arms having a slotted end and a pin extending transversely of the same, the other arm being enlarged and formed with a pocket open at the bottom and side and a shouldered recess communicating with said pocket, and a sealing-plate having a hookshaped end adapted to enter the slot in the first-mentioned arm and engage the transverse pin, the other end of said plate being formed with a tongue to enter and engage the recess in the enlarged arm and a shoulder formed in the sealing-plate adjacent to the tongue, substantially as shown and described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JOSIAH SCOTT. Witnesses:

CARL H. KELLER, I. D. CARTWRIGHT 

